Rumor Patrol: Karen Gillan’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Role is Angela from ‘Spawn’

Strap yourselves in for this latest rumor concerning Guardians of the Galaxy – the upcoming Marvel Studios sci-fi superhero blockbuster about a team of outer space do-gooders whose alien ranks include a talking tree and a militant raccoon, led by Chris Pratt from Parks and Recreation.

If that doesn’t sound sufficiently strange to you, get your geek-meter ready for processing overload: today’s rumor concerns former Doctor Who star Karen Gillan playing an outer space bounty hunter in Guardians of the Galaxy – only it’s character who happens to be newly-acquired to the Marvel Universe, and first got her start in the pages of Todd McFarlane’s Spawn comic book. (We warned you this was gonna get geeky.)

It was in the NeoGaf Fourms that discussion first spread about a newspaper clipping (supposedly originating in Glasgow, Scotland) claiming Karen Gillanwas going to have to undergo a serious workout routine to portray the character Angela, “a flame-haired, sword-wielding bounty hunter.” The accompanying picture was indeed the same Angela that comic book fans know from the Spawn series; she debute in 1993 and was co-created by Todd McFarlane and seminal author Neil Gaiman (Sandman, American Gods).

As reported earlier this year by NYT, a recent deal between Gaiman and Marvel will introduce Angela to the Marvel comic book universe during the 2013 crossover event “Age of Ultron.” This is only after a lengthy legal battle between Gaiman and McFarlane, which resulted in a 2012 settlement regarding character copyrights. Angela has already been slated to join Brian Michael Bendis’ relaunch of Guardians of the Galaxy – which is not-so-coincidentally being tailored to fit with the 2014 summer blockbuster by Super director James Gunn. We already know that Gillan is set to play the main villain of the film, and Angela – a bounty hunter on the Guardians’trail – could certainly fit that bill.

Angela (Marvel) vs. Angela (Spawn)

If she is a villain (at least at the start), then clearly the Spawn origin story (Angela as an angel bounty-hunter working in the employ of heaven) will likely get revised into a more cosmic-themed origin story, if only to better fit with Marvel’s movie universe (see also: Thor). One thing is for sure, though: no matter which universe she’s featured in, Angela’s costume remains as skimpy as ever. Doctor Whofans are surely placing their hopes on the idea that Gillan is indeed slated for that role.

Quite an extensive cast, to say the least – and we still have the voices of CGI Guardians heroes like Groot and Rocket Raccoon to hear announced, as well. At this point it’s clear that Marvel is going to bust their cosmic universe wide open – heck, this Guardians of the Galaxy alternate timeline might even be pulling in characters from other comic book universes! Talking about a sci-fi head-trip!

Of course, after running around with a Time Lord for so long (bad pun), Gillan would likely have no worries bringing Angela to (new) life within the Marvel Universe. Do you want to see her play the role? Are you okay with the idea of importing a Spawn character into the Marvel Movie Universe (or comic book universe for that matter)?

Thor: The Dark World on November 8, 2013, Captain America: The Winter Soldier on April 4, 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy on August 1, 2014, The Avengers 2 on May 1, 2015, Ant-Man on November 6, 2015, and Doctor Strange sometime after that.